Social networks provide users with a centralized way of organizing social relationships with other users. For example, social networks, such as Facebook® and Myspace® allow users to create friends lists, family lists, and become members of groups on the social network. Unfortunately, users must use the server computers provided by the social network in order to communicate with one another. In many contexts, this is undesirable. For example, local and ad hoc wireless methods enable quick, low-power communication between devices in proximity, but accessing social network information to facilitate detection may require using wide area network connections to connect to server computers, which may increase latency and power consumption. As another example, social networks are being utilized more and more to organize resistance movements, protests, and other events which may be unauthorized or frowned upon by government institutions. However, when using the server computers of the social network to organize these events, the centralized nature of these servers make it easier for communications between the users to be recorded or blocked. Thus, government institutions can utilize the communication records from the social network to identify users that have been directly involved in organizing these events. This can lead to serious and even deadly consequences in countries with autocratic or authoritarian governments.
Accordingly, there is a need for being able to utilize social relationships organized through a social network without having to communicate through a server computer.